The latest rumour has it that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-based Google tablet - branded Nexus, presumably - will sell for $199, what Amazon is asking for the Fire. That may be Google's new target but it will still strike at the iPad's dominance given the price differential between that and the $499 Apple wants for an entry level iPad 2.

Of course, if Apple does indeed release a 'retina display' iPad 3 in February/March, that will put some clear blue water between its offering and Google's, leaving the search engine firm to battle it out for the low end with Amazon. ®